In a novel, film or stage play, not every character needs to take center stage. Some characters play a minor role. Some add passing humour, obstacles, important advice or information. Read 5 ideas for writing background characters:
Category: Character writing
Read Now Novel’s best character writing blog posts below. Learn how to create a cast for your story that is rich with bold personalities. The best stories make it easy for us to connect with characters and become invested in their story outcomes. Learn how to describe characters’ faces, postures, speech and more. You can also find helpful guides on creating conflict between characters, different kinds of relationships between members of the cast of your story and more.
Indirect characterization is writing that paints in character detail by showing rather than telling. Rather than only tell readers about characters’ personalities and values, you can reveal them subtly through dialogue, actions and appearances. Read these tips and examples:
Character tropes (common stock characters) have their place in stories. Satires and spoofs, for example, use types such as the ‘cool mom’ or ‘orphan who must save the world’. Yet character tropes quickly dull a story when characters read as too predictable. To avoid tropes:
In classic stories, characters often step off the page from their first introduction, fully realized. How do you write good character description that reveals enough to hook readers? Try these 5 techniques:
Character development gives fictional characters depth. Like us, characters grow, change, make mistakes and learn (or don’t). Read 9 ways to make your characters grow and take … Read More
The main character in a story is one of the most vital aspects. Knowing how to write an engaging main character is a vital skill for authors. Read on for definitions, examples and tips to make primary characters unforgettable:
Writing character profiles and brainstorming main characters’ arcs helps establish story direction. A good character arc template includes facts about your characters’ goals, high points and low points. Here are 5 steps to building a dynamic character journey:
Think back to the first time you met someone you now know well. Can you remember what you noticed about them first? Describing characters’ first appearances effectively is key to building characters who linger in the mind. Here are 6 tips on how to describe your characters at first introduction:
Fiction is full of villainous characters who readers love to hate (and, sometimes, hate to love). Learning how to write a villain that your readers can understand as a complex human being (as opposed to a cardboard cutout) can give your novel depth. How do you write a villain who feels human; real (though not necessarily sympathetic)? Here are 7 tips: